Saturday, May 22, 2010

A Review Of Streets Of Fire Action Film

By Lucy Garza

Walter Hill really created a unique little flick with Streets of Fire. Hill actually came up with the film by simply thinking of everything he'd want to have seen in a great movie as a kid, and then writing a checklist, and making sure he hit all those moments as he banged the screenplay out. The result is one of the all time great eighties movie downloads.

The movie follows Tom Cody, a soldier who's been discharged and returns to his old hometown when Ellen Aim, his old sweetheart, and a pop music sensation, is kidnapped by Raven, the leader of the local biker gang. The film works on the level of fantasy, mixing fifties and eighties aesthetics into a new kind of setting. The environment the characters inhabit is surreal and dreamlike, and the cinematography is beautiful, with rainy streets and neon signs dominating the screen.

The film is really defined by the music, with pop and rock songs blending the fifties sound with the eighties sound. The movie really sort of invents its own, all new genre of music, exemplified by I Can Dream About You, the doowop song that actually charted pretty high on the billboard. The soundtrack is worth a listen whether you like the movie or not.

The story is pretty traditional, standard stuff, but because of the feel, the sound of the movie, this old story of kidnapping and rescue is elevated to the level of Rock and Roll Fairy Tale.

Walter Hill has remained one of the great directors of the last few decades, but rarely gets the respect he really deserves as such. He continues to knock it out of the park with more recent films like Undisputed, and earns acclaim with each new film, but is rarely mentioned alongside Scorsese or Brian dePalma, which is truly a shame, as he's certainly one of the most entertaining directors alive.

Besides the rock and roll, the film also has a score written by blues legend Ry Cooder. The earthy, bluesy feel of his slide guitar offers a contrast to the glossy feel of the rest of the soundtrack, and drives home the "down to earthness" of Tom Cody, the character most frequently accompanied by Cooder's guitar score.

If you want a great double feature, watch Streets of Fire alongside The Warriors. The Warriors is, similarly, a sort of Rock and Roll, street fable, but takes the concept in a rougher, tougher, more gritty direction, while Streets of Fire is a little more glossy, a little more pretty and colorful in comparison to The Warriors and its title street gang heroes.

The movie was going to be a trilogy, with the two sequels to be called The Return of Tom Cody and The Far City, but box office returns came out somewhat disappointing and those plans were scrapped. It's too bad, because it does feel like there was another story to tell in this environment. Luckily, the film has become a cult classic over the years and has earned the fanbase it deserved, it's only too bad that didn't happen back when that would've gotten us a sequel! - 38505

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment